Was Robert K. Dornan there? He was there in 1963, but the blacks thought he was prejudiced against them. That may have been one factor in his 1996 defeat.

The way I heard it was, Dornan let his fences break down with the heavily Republican-voting Chinese-American community in his district, who didn't turn out the way they had in the past, allowing Sanchez to squeak by him. (And of course, there's the immigration thing -- but that wouldn't have mattered if he'd taken care of his base, so "they" said afterward.)

Also Dornan was done in by a MI Republican congressman named, I think, "Ehlers," who did not take Dornan's challenge to Sanchez's election very seriously. Dornan was bound to lose in time, as CA grew so liberal.